Monday, December 24, 2012

THE WORLD RAVES ABOUT "THY WOMB" FILM



THY WOMB is a moving and visually captivating with two commanding yet understated central performances.  Mendoza’s film deserves an accolade at Venezia 69. 

Jo-Ann Titmarsh
United Kingdom

----------000----------

Nora Aunor’s charming interpretation makes her character of the most sympathetic in the festival. 

Josefina Sartora 
Argentina

----------000----------

The sequence of marriage is not only beautiful, outwardly beautiful, but can tell us about the lives and fractures in the lives that marriage is causing . . . The character of Shaleha is heartwarming and heartbreaking even in her self-sacrifice for the sake of her husband. 

Nuovo Cinema Locatelli
Italy

---------000-----------

Mendoza is much more interested in a convincing portrait of ordinary people in an unknown part of the world . . . but at the end of the ride he lets you do with a lump in the throat. 

Ruben Nollet
Belgium

----------000----------

Thy Womb is a moving portrait of courageous woman, ready to sacrifice herself for the greater good, relying on a community that has long been known that it can only survive by helping each other as much as possible. 

Raphael Clairefond
France

----------000----------

Featuring a standout performance by Philippine superstar Nora Aunor, Brillante Mendoza once again capture the complexities and frustration of contemporary Philippine society. 

Kim Ji Seok
South Korea

----------000----------

Nora Aunor’s performance is spectacular in Thy Womb.  It is a very, very  beautiful film.  

Maxine Williamson
Australia

----------000---------

In a stunning comeback role, Philippine supertar Nora Aunor breathes soul into her character of a lowly wife who is as summarily sacrificed like an animal. 

Philip Cheah
Dubai

----------000----------

The Filipino director strikes with a story extreme sensitivity and delicacy . . . The naturalistic and credible interpretation of Nora Aunor, the sacrificial lamb provides emotional and passionate picture of love and motherhood. 

Elisabetta Bartucca
Italy

----------000----------

A page of unforgettable film, born in one of the pristine places in the planet.  

Valerio Sammarco
Italy

----------000----------

THY WOMB is a heartbreaking, devoutly humanist work. 

Steve Gravestock
Canada

----------000----------

A profound, beautiful film that offers a different view of the concept of relationships that goes against that taken in western society. 

Anastasia Primachenko
Russia

----------000---------

The sacrifice of the strong woman done with amazing sweetness and poetic beauty makes it as beautiful as the natural landscapes that frame the film. 

R. Serini
Italy

----------000----------

Mendoza and his actors create real people with a subtle awareness of gesture and a sensitivity to the complex emotions of two characters are living through.  

John Bleasdale
United Kingdom

----------000----------

The film successfully describes the Bajau rituals without judging their cultures. 

Michael Kienzl
Germany

----------000----------

A wonderful love story . . . Just a universal story. 

Petra Reski
Italy

----------000----------

Precise and detailed in describing the life of the Bajau, this Mendoza film is full lyricism and authentic at the same time, inevitably cruel, poetic and melancholy. 

Valeria Morini
Italy

----------000----------

Brillante Mendoza manages to show a drama fiction and documentary, with flowing images that interweave human feelings on a canvas of colors. 

Oscar Sanchez
Mexico

----------o0o---------

Tells the rituals and beliefs of a hidden culture.  Almost an essay of anthropology. 

Mereghetti Paolo
Italy

---------o0o----------

The genius of Mendoza’s film is that no sooner has he drawn us into the couple’s simple life on the beautiful island of Tawi-Tawi than he unsettles this paradise with cinematic eruptions. 

Jamie Dunn
United Kingdom

----------o0o---------

There is a strange harmony in the Bajau community . . . The camerawork by Brillante Mendoza investigates the universe interspersed between islands, churches and mosques, colorful markets and wedding rites. 

Paola Piacenza
Italy

----------o0o----------

It is the best film to date from Filipino director Brillante Mendoza . . . The story becomes as quietly agonishing as a De Sica film. 

Nigel Andrews
United Kingdom

----------o0o---------

A beautiful naturalistic film.  The actress, Nora Aunor, is fantastic. 

Mateo Sancho Cardiel
Argentina

----------o0o---------

Brillante Mendoza designs a moving melodrama a couple torn between love and social traditions. 

Cristina Nord
Austria

----------o0o---------

This story of love and sacrifice is simple in appearance, but the resonance is disturbing and deep. 

Jean-Francois Pluijgers
Belgium

----------o0o----------

Mendoza does not focus on telling an emotionally charged story about a childless couple with the desire for offspring in a very dramatic way.  Rather, rituals, gestures and cultural codes are at the center of attention and convey, without judging, the image of a remote society. 

Vienna International Film Festival

----------o0o----------

Nora Aunor, one of the best actresses of the world . . . in a magnificent visual sublimation. 

Pierre Hombrebueno
Italy

----------o0o----------

 NORA AUNOR is nothing short of MAGNIFICENT in Brillante Mendoza's THY WOMB. 

Jose Javier Reyes
Philippines

----------o0o----------

Nora Aunor shines in her minimalist portrayal of the subservient wife Shaleha. Aunor indeed is such a master of minimalist acting, and yet the emotional effect on the audience is tremendous. Her eyes really do talk, and they talk endless paragraphs of emotions. 

Macky Macarayan
Philippines

---------o0o---------

‘Thy Womb,’ Spectacular In So Many Ways 

Crispina Martinez-Belen
Philippines

---------o0o----------

‘Thy Womb’ is a moving story shot with utmost simplicity and realism, but with powerful undertones. It is a showcase of the beauty of life, love, and faith, and will leave you with a better appreciation of our Muslim brethren. 

Don Rapadas
Philippines

---------o0o---------

I highly recommend Thy Womb as Direk Brillante explores in it the intricacies of rural life largely through the eyes of a Badjao midwife, thereby revealing new facets of the plight of Filipino indigenous peoples.

"Mendoza tackles heavy subject matter that our society needs to pay attention to, and this does its part in encouraging other filmmakers to push the boundaries of art and storytelling.

Loren Legarda
 Philippines

 ----------o0o---------

Scriptwriter Henry Burgos has woven a tale of unselfish love that is unusually quiet and very cerebral. 

Pablo A. Tariman (Yahoo Philippines)

---------o0o---------
  
Thy Womb is the kind of movie that doesn’t explain everything and doesn’t spoon-feed anything. Rather than verbalize, it visualizes. 

Eric T. Cabahug (InterAksyon)
Philippines

---------o0o---------

Mendoza doesn’t spoon feed by showing how things  turn out to be.  He resorts to  clues — the body language, the one-liners. 

Maridol RaƱoa-Bismark (Yahoo Philippines)


--------o0o---------


In one fell swoop, Mendoza weaves the personal (one’s notion of selfless love, joy, sadness,) with the cultural (how one’s actions, choices, thoughts are dictated by the society one is in) and the national (Tawi-Tawi’s socio-political setting). 

Jennifer Dugena and Jocelyn Dimaculangan (PEP)
Philippines

 --------o0o---------

While Brillante Mendoza has wielded his unconventional directing style to make this film another masterpiece, Nora Aunor immortalizes on this film her brand of underacting. 

Don Rapadas (Metanoia)
 Philippines

---------o0o---------

This is an image we don’t see in Filipino movies, because in mainstream exploration of extramarital affairs and love triangles characters talk and talk about nonsense, reducing women as objects and elevating men as some sort of sex god.” 

 Macky Macarayan (Death of Traditional Cinema)
Philippines

----------o0o---------

Unstinted of symbolisms and unadulterated emotions, Thy Womb is easily one of this year’s most affecting films as it transcends from the small vicinities of Tawi-Tawi to an engaging shrewdness and brilliance. 

Kikko Kalabud (Hot for Movies)
Philippines

---------o0o----------



While the plot’s development is a bit dragging, as soon as it hits the high notes with its dramatic parts, it successfully sustains the momentum, keeping the moviegoers glued until the heart-breaking end. 

Jude Cartalaba (Rappler)
Philippines

---------o0o---------

More than the co-existence of Muslim and Christian in this otherwise troubled place, Mendoza delivers the message of unconditional love that was perfectly depicted with the film’s ending scene: a rather simple shot of the lead actress’ face, but one that carried a powerful emotion that truly brought the entire film full circle. 

Irish Eden Belleza (Tabloid on Saturday)
Philippines

---------o0o---------

 “Mendoza  fell in love with Tawi-Tawi and its people and it shows in Thy Womb: a picturesque, lyrical, appropriately quiet depiction of one of the most peace-loving peoples in the world – the Bajau.” 

Skilty Labastilla (Young Critics Circle)
Philippines

---------o0o---------


Roco and Poe provide ample support for Aunor’s silent but intensely immersive portrayal. Nora will break your heart as her world-weary face lights up at the film’s final fade. 

 Rito Asilo (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

---------o0o---------


An important movie to watch.  A poetic and romantic work of art. 

Stephanie Mayo (Films and Events Check)
Philippines

----------o0o----------


Nora Aunor is awesome… acting without acting... No one but no one comes near her. 

Renato Constantino [Tempo] 
Philippines

---------o0o---------

During moments of deep contemplations, you will find the joy and sadness, the celebrations and the longings in Shaleha’s heart through Nora’s eyes. Intense. Triumphant. Make no mistake, Thy Womb is Nora’s finest hour. 

Jonathan Catunao
Philippines

---------o0o---------

“Thy Womb” is an important Filipino film accompanied by breathtaking acting that leaves a big-time emotional punch. 

Chikkaness (Chikkaness Avenue)
Philippines

----------o0o---------

‘Thy Womb’ provided us a glimpse, if not a total journey, to the innermost being of a woman: of how it is to be one and what she’s capable of doing in the name of love; a tour into the heart of one culture people in the outside world failed to see or some of them didn’t bother to appreciate; a wondrous ride into feeling the core of a portion of the Filipino race. 

Ely Valendez (Ely’s Planet)
Philippines

----------o0o---------

THY WOMB – ito ay isang obrang orihinal at napapanahon. Pilipinong-pilipino ang tema. Samo’t saring pasabog ang matutunghayan sa bawat eksena na ngayon mo pa lang makikita sa pinilakang-tabing. 

Colin Dy Tupaz (Pinoy Movie Blog)
Philippines

---------o0o---------

The Womb is not the kind of dramatic film you see from Star Cinema, Viva or Regal. It is an ethnographic film as Mendoza introduces us to the culture and tradition of the Badjaos. Aunor is perfect for the role as she is lost in among the Badjaos, embracing the people’s thoughts and emotion. 

Isah V. Red (Manila Standard Today)
Philippines